Skarbø Skulekorps — Skarbø Skulekorps

Skarbø Skulekorps are the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Øyvind Skarbø who formed the band when he became unsettled in his previous project, the jazz trio 1982. Skarbø Skulekorps is the band’s first album and features the following lineup: Signe Emmeluth on alto sax and electronics, Erik Hegdal on C Melody Sax and clarinet, Stian Omenás on trumpet, Anja Lauvdal on organ and synth, Johan Lindstrom on pedal steel and guitar, Chris Holm on bass and synth and of course Øyvind Skarbø himself on drums, percussion, vibraphone and banjo. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered between December 2018 and April 2019 in Bergen and Oslo.

Skarbø Skulekorps is a fairly accomplished sounding album for a debut release, seamlessly mixing elements of pop, jazz and electronica into a mature and yet unique style that belies the band’s relative newness. Opener "1-555-3327" is a fairly standard, slick, sweet pop song that sits a million miles away from the band’s jazz roots, however, the final minute of the track features a jazzy free for all that serves as a reminder. "Turnamat" is up next and features a really nice up-tempo jazz funk keyboard riff and some top-drawer horn playing. "Pilabue" is a much mellower, laid back slice of jazz pop that reminds me of some of Frank Zappa’s 70s output, but with some really nice country tinged guitar playing. "Four Foxes" features more laid-back jazzy vibes, the horns really take centre stage on this one, the song is littered with sax solos. "Farrier and the Hoof" is the album’s midpoint, and one of the albums highlights, an eclectic, ambient and at times Avant Garde slab of oddness, mixing Goblin style progressive rock, with free jazz…such a great track.

"Lysets Hastighet" is a cool late-night jazz track that harks back to Miles Davis 80s output, yet with just a hint of Hawaiian music in places. This represents an interesting mix of styles, and yet it works to great effect. "Kadó" is up next, this is another prog jazz masterclass, this time it has a real Canterbury vibe to it that I like a great deal, and which harks back to the heyday of Gong, Soft Machine and Caravan. Both pretty and laid back this one is another of my favourites from the album. "Gliploss" is another fairly pleasant laid-back jazz groove, and whilst it doesn’t quite live up to the three tracks that preceded it, it remains a pleasant listen. The album closes with its longest track "50 MB RAM "a nearing nine minutes of understated mellow Avant Garde jazz/folk featuring an interesting and melancholy mix of styles and sounds.

Overall, Skarbø Skulekorps is a nice album featuring some really great playing and some good compositional work. The mix of styles is wide and varied and makes for an interesting listen for fans of jazz, prog and electronica. Anyone who draws influences from such a wide wellspring of styles and genres is always going to produce work that is interesting, however Skarbø Skulekorps have produced an album that is not only interesting, it’s also very coherent, meshing the various different styles with aplomb. Lovely stuff.